7 Habits of Highly Effective Twitterers: Wayne Sutton

“Think of me as the social media lead car on the Autobahn of the Internet.”
Wayne Sutton (@waynesutton) is a Social Media Strategist, Consultant, and a prolific twitterer who’s passionate about using new media and technology to connect businesses and consumers. You can catch his tech reviews and insights on SocialWayne.com.

1. Filters and searches

Using Twitter Search and filters for your searches save you a ton of time when you’re looking for information via Twitter. Mashable has previously compared 6 great Twitter search services and Mr. Tweet’s Blog Editor, Corvida Raven, has recently posted about great ways to use filters combined with Twitter’s saved search feature to help you harness some of the benefits of Twitter Search.

The value in utilizing the filters is they help you to fine tune the results of your searches. For example if your looking for content on Twitter that fall within the niches like SEO or Social Media, you could do a simple search. But this opens up to a bunch of noise. What if you only want tweets with links? “social media filter:links” would return better results because all of these twitter messages contain a link in them along with the keywords “social media”. Louis Gray has done a nice summary of the importance of filters.

2. There are no rules, but establish your “twitter goals”

  • What do you want to get out of Twitter?
  • What topics would you like to continuously discuss?
  • What do you want to give to your followers?
  • Would you rather keep your conversations private or open to the public?
  • Are you going to have them between small groups of friends, or are you open to networking?
  • Do you want to broadcast? To how many people?

3. Understand prime tweet hours for conversations and traffic

Recommended Prime Tweet Hours: Twitter has replaced the morning email time for some. Between 7:30 A.M. to 10:00 A.M. EST Mon. - Fri. most twitter users are at work, reading tweets, tweeting, checking rss feeds and sharing information. However, this can vary when it comes to your followers and followings.

4. Setup your workflow and apps

I’m a big fan of Tweetgrid but for some, Seesmic Desktop or Tweetdeck works. I also recommend using, use Twitter web apps like Hootsuit, Cotweet and Tweetbeep. Dig into these apps and understand how they can better help you. Read the tips about how to better utlize their features. Why are you doing all of this? You want to make them work for you.

5. “Always a tweet away”

Meaning, be it your iPhone or Blackberry, you can send a tweet from anywhere, anytime. You want to appear to be always thinking about your followers or the entire twitter community. You might see something important such as breaking news, or it could be a thought; be able to tweet on the spot.

6. Sharing information and being helpful

This probably is the #1 reason I have as many followers as I have now. Before the celebrities, nba players, and music artist, I was finding and sharing a lot of helpful information or information I thought others could benefit from. Be consistent with your sharing habits and try not to make too much noise.

7. Understand what Twitter really is

For me, Twitter is a means of communication. It generates and enhances relationships through social networking. I find value in not only my connections, but also by giving back to the community (see Habit 6 for more). What is Twitter for you?

Bonus: Attend tweetups or understand how to use twitter offline as much online for your personal life or busines
[ Authors Note] We recommend checking out Wayne Sutton’s excellent post on great Twitter Conferences to attend.

Share your Twitter habits in the comments!

*Note: This is the second part of our Highly Effective Twitterers (#het) series to highlight Twitterers who have achieved significant professional and personal success via Twitter. They share their unique approach towards building great networks here!

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  • Johjoik
    Woo this is a nice blog, i would love to read more.

    regards
    harsel gibs
    ______________________________________________
    watch scrubs | watch west wing online | watch lost
  • I'm a great fan of Hootsuite, quick seamless and easy to use ...not long lag times... Can I suggest you add an "e" at the end of it in your post mention?

    [I also recommend using, use Twitter web apps like Hootsuit,]

    great article and fab links
  • Still Pertinent
    Sorry. Lost me completely with "save" instead of saves, and other spelling and grammar errors so distracting I could not get to the content.

    Please - spell check and grammar check. Sheesh!
  • Well put, Wayne, I enjoyed your take on Twitter. This is a great set of habits to create and follow. Twittering can be lots of fun (and it sure is for me). Most important to me is to imply the same common sense as used in communicating outside of Twitter. Great Article & Thanks. Robert Rowe @rowiro
  • MizAnointed
    I like this article it has really opened my eyes and understanding to using twitter. I looked at it as being a social network and nothing else, now I see the true value in using twitter and will put into practice the 7 habits. This goes along with the reading I am doing by Franklin Covey The 7 habits of highly effective people and I want to achieve my goals with people who are like minded and goal oriented as well and not just twittering. Now I am no longer a twitterer but a networker as well.
  • My best twitter tip is to have your social bookmarking application open at the same time - so you can add recommended sites to your bookmarks and tag them straight away. No losing valuable links.
  • Ha! Now that's a nice one. I thought I was the only one that did this.
  • ketinunkantim
    I believe, Wayne, that people as yourself have a special mission on Earth upon sharing and being helpfull to others without further needs, nor expectations.
    You really do it for free, and this is a remarkable act of fraternity in a world such as violent as it is in this days of us.
    Fortunatelly you've crossed my way and I do thank God for it.
    Blessed be, my friend.
    I didn't comment here before because... I had nothing to add to your sayings and I'm doing it now because I know your generosity deserves my cumpliments.
  • Melissa
    Good Info
  • This is an incredibly informative article, Wayne. Just excellent for a newbie like me.
    Thanks.
  • Richard
    Sensible ideas. When I see "xyz is following you" I look up xyz's profile. If I see umpteen thousand follows and followers and 6 updates. I block them. I wonder at all the programs that automate gathering followers and the automatic follow feature on Twitter itself. Seriously, if xyz finds or creates software to automate everything including posts, and urges me to buy the same, and we all automate ... who will read anything, ... but the robots?
  • vincestev
    Really sensible and useful approach to developing a strategy with Twitter. Much appreciated. Rgds Vince
  • Interesting points and comments.

    "Between 7:30 A.M. to 10:00 A.M. EST Mon. - Fri. most twitter users are at work, reading tweets, tweeting, checking rss feeds and sharing information."

    Some corporate environments block access to Twitter on desktops and Blackberries. That makes receiving tweets difficult. Sending tweets is easy because you can use email (e.g. to ping.fm) but this is not the same as two-way communication.
  • Wayne, great title and a great article. I was a early adopter of twitter, and started out by using twitter just as a status update. Twitter is still used by many as such, but it has definitely evolved into a way for individuals and companies to build their brand.

    The combination of critical mass, ability to search, retweet, and the open api has made it so simple to actually reach out to the people who really care about your product or service, and all it takes is to choose your followers well and give them a compelling reason for them to follow you.

    I am using twitter differently now. I have a few twitter accounts. For my personal twitter account, @geekparrot, I've used it to discover fellow Singaporeans whom without twitter, would have never got to meet, and find out that we have similar interests. What I do is search for tweeps who are nearby, and I follow those whom I find interesting. Then I look at their followers, read their bios, and look at some of their recent tweets - if I like them, I'll follow them as well. So this is sort of a search and discover process I use to find people to follow. I have another twitter account for my social media blog @freshbakedweb, which, following the same process, I'm starting to follow and be followed by like-minded individuals, bloggers and professionals. I use it more for my company's brand building.

    Apps that I use - Tweetie and Tweetdeck. Tweetie because of the ability to manage multiple accounts. I use their iPhone app the most, but I don't like their retweet function which adds a "via" instead of an "RT" in the beginning. Tweetdeck I use because I like to search for keywords that I'm interested in, and the results are presented in an organized fashion.

    I love all the points you made, Wayne. One important thing about being on twitter is that you have to see it as a two-way communication channel. I've observed many companies who get a twitter account just so they can use it to throw links back to their site. These never get many followers. I like how companies like Starbucks and Comcastcares engages their followers and not only takes, but gives back as well. Be casual in your tone, not all "marketing-trying-to-sell-you-something" like.

    Cheers,
    Bernie
  • Great article! I use Twitter to connect with other marketers and share ideas. Use Tweetdeck at the office and Twibble on my BB. I enjoy a two way conversation with individuals so you can learn about each other and how you may be able to provide relevant information for them. Twitter - @innovatemarcom
  • This is sound advice as opposed to some of the hype out there. Besides the use of tools it all comes down to common sense, as in so many other areas of life and business.
  • Thanks Jebworks
  • Max
    I hate the foul language that some of the tweeters use. One big offender is Perez Hilton. There should be a rule about not typing such rude and foul words on screen. I feel that you can effectively convey your thoughts and messages on Twitter w/o using all of the foul words.
  • I don't curse either, that would be a nice settings feature to add. A list of words you wanted **** out of your twitter stream. Like the blog comments moderation settings in wordpress.

    Thanks for the comment.
  • Jill
    that would be telling someone how to tweet. If someone wants to swear, likes to swear, and uses it a way of expressing themselves, what to you care, don't follow them if you don't like it.

    I would hate to see twitter censored. What makes twitter great is that it has such few rules, and it is what people make it.
  • I COULD live without Twitter. I do find it helpful to find relevant information, gain knowledge within my expertise, interact with others (whom I may know or not know IRL) and sometimes simply to pass time in a fun way :-)
  • Some people use twitter to get information. Others to network with others with similar interest. May use twitter to make money by selling a service or product. You have to decide which you are doing and then follow people who can help you with your goals.

    Many of the tools available can help.
  • Following people that can help you with your goals on Twitter is very important. It could save a lot of time in the long-run and help to reduce "noise" in streams.

    Thanks for the tips Kathy!
  • Batman
    You should add, Don't let others tell you how to tweet, or that you're doing it wrong. They don't know why you're here.
  • True! Maybe we'll do a second post with such suggestions.
  • You are absolutely right but I do feel that the Twitter search is dysfunctional.

    I cannot live without a Twitter client with Group feature. I switch between TweetDeck and Seesmic at work and at home I use Tweetie for Mac since I don't monitor as many topics as I do at work and I scan for avatars I recognize in my timeline.

    Even with these Twitter client I am wanting more. I really need a good implementation of Groups in a Twitter client for the iPhone. TweetStack is not it, may be in a later version when it improve on its UX.

    Back to the topic at hand.

    Because there are more and more newbies joining Twitter every day we need to ensure 80% of our tweets are contributions to the Twitterverse. It is impossible to ask for 100%, since Twitter is something that can be used in many different ways and we should not pigeon hole it into a certain type of communication tool.
  • Twitter search definitely has some kinks to work out. However, whatever it lacks there are quite a few apps that can pick up the slack or offer a better experience.

    You can still contribute 100% in different ways. The way you use Twitter shouldn't be limited to what OTHERS might consider to be a contribution. Someone who's a shoe lover (sneakerhead) might find tweets with links to shoes to be great contributions to Twitter.

    You definitely don't want to be pigeon-holed though. I do enjoy following people that have one main topic they like to tweet about, but will also tweet about a few of there hobbies or other interests. This helps me to not only find relevant followers, but also receive information on topics I don't really have the time to explore.
  • I think you miss the point of my complaint about Twitter search. If Twitter is indeed only keeping a maximum of N tweets for each peeps then no 3rd party service will help resolve this problem.

    This makes going back on frequent peeps timeline even more difficult.

    Hence, I encourage everyone who use Twitter to join Friendfeed and include their Twitter stream in their profile.
  • The company I work for uses twitter to assist people with tech issues, network our radio shows, reach guests, research, etc. I personally use twitter to keep in touch with my friends and get awesome suggestions for click throughs (like this blog). I couldn't survive without tweetdeck, however, I'm way behind the tech curve with any of the other applications mentioned.

    Interesting trivia fact? @waynesutton was one of my first twitter friends. Always very friendly and helpful. It is "social" media, after all.
  • He was one of my first friends too Nikki :) He has good taste in followers.

    How about a review of some of the applications mentioned Nikki? Might that be helpful to you?
  • What are some of your twitter habits? How are you productive on twitter?
  • I've set Twitter for popups in the lower corner of my browser. It is a newscrawl on topics in my areas(s) of interest. It's a direct feed for topical stuff I can include in a weekly blog roundup (with credit to the Tweeter and the originator). No way I could subscribe to all those sources directly.

    I'm getting more productive by dropping followers who stray from their usual stuff and spend more and more time talking about ham sandwiches, laundry, and weather forecasts.
  • One of the best ways for me has been actually talking to people. I rarely tweet about graphic design deals and I never spam people who follow me. I simply communicate with them. When people feel you care about them - (when you actually do care) - they are more loyal and more apt to share you with their friends. They'll become repeat customers and help you establish your brand. Also, the best part is you'll make some friends.
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